Core: Instructions from competent persons: who, and what rank

The law precisely indicates who may give an instruction you are legally required to obey. The broad base covers competent and recognisably identifiable officials (police officers), members of the Royal Marechaussee, customs officers, recognised traffic controllers, and even persons acting as traffic controller during driving lessons or the practical exam, provided they wear the prescribed clothing. A random bystander waving their arms energetically falls outside all these categories — their gestures are courtesy, not law. Beyond that, the law recognises two specific, additional stop duties. The law requires you to stop for a traffic warden, but explicitly in the role of someone helping children cross — that is the source of competence, not a general street-wide authority. The law requires you to stop for an escort of a rail vehicle (for example a tram or a street-level train) showing a stop signal per sign F10, a red flag, or a red lamp — this competence is entirely separate from the police. Above all traffic signs and traffic rules stands the instruction itself: if a competent officer makes you stop while the light is green, the officer wins. The order of authority is therefore: instruction, then traffic light, then traffic sign, then the general traffic rule.